THE ESSENES 181

Entrance to the fourth degree, i.e,, the attainment of the
full rank of an Essene, was also accompanied by characteristic
rites. Firstly, the initiate took an oath, the terms of which
embraced the obligations which he accepted, viz.: to worship
God, to fulfil his duty towards his fellow-men, to practise justice,
to refrain from rash judgments. Secondly, he received certain
objects to which a symbolic value was attached and of which
henceforth he was not to lose hold. They were (a) a blue
garment,1 (6) a girdle, and (c) an axe.

The life of the brethren was controlled by a strict discipline,
and for any serious breach of it a jury of not less than a hundred
members could, if necessary, pronounce sentence of expulsion
upon the accused, or even, in cases of blasphemy against God
and the Lawgiver, condemn him to death.2 The fundamental
principle of the brotherhood was the renunciation of personal
property on the part of its members and the practice of com-
munism. Those who entered the Essene community forthwith
made over all their possessions to the common stock.3 Brethren
were chosen to look after the needs of the brotherhood and to
prepare the food. This was partaken of in common, in an
attitude of grave and reverent silence, accompanied by prayers,
so that the meal assumed the form of a ritual repast.4

The daily life of the community was sober, chaste, and well-
ordered—the life of men who regarded earthly life as a prison
and who eschewed pleasure as evil. Beginning and ending with
prayer, each day was filled with work. In practice, this con-
sisted almost exclusively in agricultural labour,5 for the Essenes
did not engage in commerce and placed a ban upon certain
crafts, such as that of the armourer, as being unclean.6 Indeed,
the main concern of the Essenes was to avoid impurity, and
it is for this reason that baths and purificatory ablutions occupied
so large a place in their routine. To the same end, they took
great care to reduce to a minimum the uneleanness consequent
upon the discharge of natural functions.7

1 Actually it seems likely that postulants were dressed in blue from
the beginning of their novitiate. C/. Jos., B.J., ii, 8, 3 and 7.

2 Jos., B.J., ii, 8, 9.

3 Jos., E. J,, ii, 8, 3. This idea of having all things in common,
Qav^idaiov avroT^ TO xotvcovixov, seems to have made a particularly deep
impression on Josephus. It is by no means characteristic of the Jewish
tradition and savours of Pythagorean influence.

4 Described in Jos., B.f., ii, 85 5. Schiirer (LXXV, ii, 568) says of
them: 4t die den Character von Opfermaklen flatten." C/. COLE, 317.

5 Jos., Ant., xviii, 1, 5*

6 Philo, Quod omnis, 12; Eusebius, Praepar. evangel, viii, 11, 8-9.

7 Jos.} B. J., ii, 8, 5 ; ii, 8, 9 ; ii, 8, 10; LXXV, ii, 567.